Principal Investigator |
Recent Events:
Richard Beard successfully defended his Ph.D. project on November 16, 2011. Congratulations Dr. Beard!
Congratulations to Richard Beard and Cheng-Hung Chen for excellent posters at Experimental Biology 2011 in Washington. Dr. Chen was also honored with an invited talk hosted by the Microcirculatory Society; congratulations Cheng-Hung!
Congratulations to Jason Reynolds (Bearden lab) for his award: 1st
Prize for Outstanding Visual (Poster) Presentation of Research by an
Undergraduate at the Idaho Academy of Science meeting!
LABORATORY MISSION
Our mission is to enhance quality of life by providing a better understanding of the mechanisms regulating vascular homeostasis.
RESEARCH OVERVIEW
We study the structure and function of microvascular networks. All the cells of the body require nutrients to be delivered by microvessels and capillaries. Cell-cell and branch-branch communication of vasomotor signals is a fundamental property of vascular networks and underlies the capacity for coordinated blood flow control. Similarly, junctions between endothelial cells, which form the inner lining of all blood vessels, are essential for cell-cell communication (gap junctions) and to regulate vascular permeability (tight and adherens junctions). Normal function of these pathways allows proper nutrient delivery and distribution within organs such as skeletal muscle, heart, and brain. We use intravital microscopy (in vivo/situ), isolated vessels (in vitro), and cell culture (in vitro) models along with techniques in molecular biology, pharmacology, and immunohistochemistry to better understand the mechanisms of this coordination in normal and disease states. Our ongoing purpose is to identify modifiable mechanisms that may be exploited to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with vascular dysfunction.